This was the title of a short webinar I watched last week with a trainer, Russell Stannard, from the UK. He mentioned three specific Web tools that he uses with his students and even though I have mentioned one or more of these before, it was a good reminder of how they can be beneficial.
Todaysmeet -
• Works like a "live" feed
• Allows instant feedback, reflection and sharing with a class
• Everything that is written by anyone who is signed in can be seen by all
• When done, you can click "Transcript" and save the information
• You can also copy and paste the information if desired
• One caution - there is little control - anyone who knows the URL can join the conversation
• Simple to use - name your "room"; tell the site when to delete the room; add a twitter hashtag (if desired); click Create Your Room; send/give anyone the URL for your room; all they have to do is input their name and click Join; the "conversation" will show on the left-hand side
Vocaroo -
• A simple audio tool
• Record and share easily by email or embedding the URL online in a blog, etc.
• Use for lectures
• Ask students to record reading, language practice, conduct an interview, etc.
• Play the best examples in class and give feedback
• Simple to use - click "Click to Record"; click "Allow"; once your recording is done, you can Listen to it; if you need to, you can Record Again; once you are satisfied with the recording, simply choose whether to "Send to a friend" or "Post on the Internet" (Send to a friend will send an email; post on the Internet gives you HTML Code and a link to use)
Jing -
• A screen capture tool
• Records the screen of your computer as if a camera was facing it and recording
• If you have a microphone on your computer, it will record sound, too
• Simply mark the screen and click Record
• When you are done, a link is made available that you can share with others
• Idea - have a student type and send you an essay in Word(r); you can then highlight errors and record your voice guiding them through what they need to address or you can simply give them verbal feedback as you "move" through the essay onscreen; when done, make the recording available to the student
• Another idea - have a student type a timeline of their lives and then record their voice talking about their life as they move through their timeline
• One more idea - have a student type a timeline of a point in history and then record their voice talking about the various points on their timeline
• Just one more! - have a student type a math problem and then record their voice as well as their typing (drawing) as to how they solved the problem
• There is a free version which will work fine for classroom use, but there is a paid version if you wish to do more with Jing; Jing is available for Windows or Mac OS; simply download and install the version you wish to use; Jing also has a newsletter and training videos available
If you are ever looking for quick ways to learn how to do something with technology or incorporate technology into a lesson, go to Russell Stannard's Web site - http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com. The site has a monthly newsletter that you can subscribe to, but if you don't want to do so, just click the X or the "No Thanks" button. Once you are on Stannard's site, you can find all sorts of links to short training videos on a variety of technology subjects. And it's all free! Look at the site this week and see what you can learn in a few minutes time. And then, see where and how you can apply this to your classroom.
Have a wonderful week!
